


Tick Tock Goes the Clock

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-14 20:59:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3425408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	1. Chapter 1

Natasha had grown accustomed to witnessing weird things throughout her lifetime. She'd witnessed first hand the things that Hydra and the Red Room could do. Like turn young girls into murderers. Then she'd gone through aliens invading New York City. That was hard to top. On top of all of that, an old ghost story among the assassin community proved to be true. The Winter Soldier was alive... And he was none other than Bucky Barnes, Steve's best friend.

All of that meant that Natasha was a hard person to surprise on the grand scale of things. Yet somehow, the creepy Hydra base she was exploring with Clint and Steve seemed to be pulling many unexpected twists.

First the base had seemed to be completely vacant. There was no sign that anyone had inhabited the place for years upon first entering. Though the further and deeper they went into the base, more and more signs of life started cropping up. It wasn't until they'd nearly reached the lowest level labs did they even come across someone.

An arrow had gone through the agent's eye before he could even move to sound the alarm. Once again, Natasha was thankful that Clint was on their side because of the concussion she had given him.

"That can't be everyone in the base," Steve murmured quietly.

"I'll scout ahead," Clint offered, "After all, I've got the silent weapon."

A look was shared between the three Avengers. Natasha gave Clint a small nod, and the archer took off without another word. Natasha and Steve waited just out of sight from the main hallway for Clint to come back. The blonde kept a tight grip on his shield. None of them were pretending that they were here for any other reason than to find Bucky. Natasha had promised to help Steve find his friend, and Clint came along because he had nothing better to do.

At the familiar sound of Clint's footsteps, Natasha peered around the corner. He seemed to be completely at ease, so Natasha figured that there was no one left in the base.

"There wasn't anyone left on this floor," Clint announced. "I didn't go any lower. Figured I should take someone with me."

"I'll go," Steve offered before Natasha could.

There was a moment of silence between the three SHIELD operatives. Natasha knew how much finding Barnes meant to Steve, so she nodded her agreement. If their roles were reversed, she would want to be the first one to find Clint.

"I'll look through the labs. See if there's anything worth bringing back to Tony."

Before either of the two men could argue, Natasha turned on her heel and walked into the nearest lab. Projects in various arrays of completion were scattered throughout the lab. A few looked to be failed attempts at the arc reactor. Others looked to be like a new kind of gun. They didn't seem like anything of worth though. There were a few projects that seemed to be more chemical based weapons. Those Natasha steered clear from. She didn't know what was safe to touch and what wasn't.

Just as she was about to leave the lab, something sparked and caught her attention. Natasha picked her way through the lab slowly, gun held up every step of the way. The object that had sparked closely resembled a watch. There was a time piece that was cracked, numbers flashing at random. The time piece was attached to a chain of sorts that was half corroded by something.

The assassin flipped the time piece over and examined the wiring in the back. She could see where two wires were out of place. Without thinking, she quickly attached them to the correct places.

A flash of light filled the lab and the time piece thudded to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint and Steve were slowly making their way down the stairs. The power had been flickering on and off for a while now, so the elevators were not an option.

"Hold on a second," Clint told Steve.

The archer motioned for the Captain to stay put as he crept further down the stairs. He could have sworn that he'd heard something. Clint pressed his back against the wall at the bottom of the stairs and slowly peered around. Nothing. He was getting paranoid. Clint waved for Steve to join him and lifted a hand to the comm in his ear.

Before he could utter a single word, Clint collapsed.


	2. Chapter 2

It took Natasha a few seconds to realize that she was no longer in the Hydra lab. The red haired assassin spun slowly to take in her new surroundings. Small bed, twin sized. Old, dirty sheets with a sports pattern. Clothes decorated the floor here and there. Natasha crouched next to one of the shirts and looked at the tag. Youth small. A young boy' stood then. Probably around seven years old judging by the shirt size. 

Natasha moved silently over to the dresser, hoping to find something that would clue her into her location. There was a framed picture on the dresser. The frame was a simple wooden one with no fancy carvings. Whoever lived in the house probably didn't have a lot of money. Nat picked up the framed photograph and peered at it in the dim lighting. Wither her free hand, Natasha fished out a flashlight and clicked it on to see better. 

Two boys. One with red hair, and one with blonde hair. An uneasy feeling settled in Natasha's but. There was something familiar about the young blonde boy in the picture. The boy closely resembled what she had always pictured Clint to look like as a child. The photo was brought closer to her face so that she could see the smaller details. 

Somewhere nearby a car door slammed shut. Raised voices could be heard through the window. Natasha's head tilted marginally and she moved closer to the window to see what was going on outside. 

"- back here, Clint!" She heard a man yell. 

The picture slipped from Natasha's grasp in shock. Glass shattered all over the floor. There was no way that this was happening. It was just a coincidence that the boy's name was Clint. Footsteps started running up the stairs. Fast light tread. Not exactly the same, but it nearly matched how her Clint ran up the stairs. Another quick glance around the room and Natasha glimpsed the date on a calendar. 

"Oh shit," Natasha breathed, dropping to the floor and sliding beneath the bed just as the door to the bedroom opened. 

There was no doubt in her mind that the kid opening the door was Clint Barton. Somehow, she had been sent through time.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve couldn't make it down the stairs fast enough to keep Clint's head from hitting the floor with a sickening crack. The captain crouched next to his teammate and pulled his gloves off quickly. Fingers sought for a pulse on Clint's neck. For a brief moment, pure terror seized Steve when he was unable to find a trace of a pulse. His own heart pounded in his ears. After a few tense seconds, he picked up a faint pulse. Steve's whole body sagged in relief at the fact that his teammate was still alive. 

"Romanoff, Barton is down."

There was no response. Steve paused for a moment to listen to his comm but there was no sign that Natasha's comm was broken. 

"Natasha, Clint is hurt."

There was still no response. 

"Natasha! Come in. Clint's hurt. Nat...."

At the lack of response, Steve stopped trying to contact the assassin. Either her comm had been taken out, or something happened and the signal was being blocked. Neither option bode well for Natasha's safety. Steve could only handle one crisis at a time, and he knew where Clint was. The man cursed under his breath when he realized that he'd left his phone in his street clothes. It took him a second to remember that Clint always carried a phone with him, programmed with three numbers to call in case of an emergency. After nearly two minutes of searching Clint's unconscious body, Steve finally located the man's phone. 

Steve hit the first number on speed dial, not recognizing it, but knowing it was first for a reason. The ringing of the phone so far below ground did nothing to calm Steve. Who knew if the call could actually connect. His fingers remained on Clint's neck while he awaited someone to answer the phone. Finally, just as he was about to hang up and call the next number, the call was answered. 

"Barton is down. He just collapsed and won't wake up. No sign of a gun shot or any poison. I need help."

"Captain Rogers?"

"Coulson?"

There was a moment of silence while Steve attempted to wrap his mind around the fact that the man was alive. 

"Where are you? May, get a Quinjet ready."

Steve told him their location quickly. The phone was held with his shoulder pressed firmly against his ear as he checked the back of Clint's head for any injury. 

"There's blood on the back of his head. Hurry."

"Don't move. And don't leave Clint. We'll be there shortly."


End file.
